Raasay Primary School

Raasay Primary School annual Prizegiving was held on Wednesday 26th June. We were delighted to be joined by lots of friends and family who came along to celebrate the pupils’ successes over the year. Piping Tutor, Angus MacPhee was our special guest and he piped the pupils in to the tune ‘Damsels and Dragonflies’ which was composed by Iain Rhuairidh Finlayson in 2010 for the opening of our pond. Pupils received trophies, shields and certificates as well as a prizebook which was chosen to reflect their interests.

Guests were also entertained by the pupils who played their chanter and tin whistle and also performed their Gaelic songs, poems, choral song and instrumental pieces from the Mod.

This was also a chance to say farewell and wish good luck to our P7 pupil as he moves on to High School – the pupils had written a poem specially for the occasion, all about what makes him special and this was read out. We also had a special cake to share which was in the shape of a shinty ball and stick – reflecting his representing of Raasay Primary in shinty tournaments across Skye and Wester Ross. Thank you to all who came along to share our special day.

Our School Summer Picnic this year had an ‘Olympic Theme’ – a big thank you to Ann, our school cook, who produced a fantastic picnic buffet for the boys. There was a lovely variety of foods and this was the perfect lunch to set the boys up for their afternoon of kayaking which was part of the sports day this year.

Pupils at Raasay Primary School held a ‘Camp Out’ at the school as part of their end of term activities. The boys had to prepare and put up the tents and enjoyed a barbecue dinner. They had a lovely evening round the camp fire followed by a nighttime ‘bat walk’. Breakfast was a bacon roll and the boys loved the novelty of waking up at school and heading into class for the usual 9am start.

Raasay Primary School annual Sports Day was held on Monday 24th June at the Playing Field. The theme this year was the ‘Olympics’ so pupils had made their own Olympic themed t-shirts and flags. They also decided on which events they would like to have. Over the course of the afternoon, pupils took part in high jump, beat the goalie, wellie throwing, flat race, tattie and spoon and hurdles, among other things. We were delighted that so many friends and family were able to join us for the afternoon.

The next day, pupils took part in the Kayaking Challenge part of Sports – the events were: round the loch race, standing up race, self rescue challenge and kayak orienteering.

After one of their swimming sessions, pupils in Raasay Primary had the opportunity to visit Skye Skyns in Waternish to learn about what goes in to the production of the sheepskin products. Thank you to Becky the Tanner who showed them the tanning process and to Isabelle for helping us to organise the visit. The boys were delighted to receive a sheepskin keyring and they also bought a beautiful cushion for our reading area. Thank you to all for a very informative and engaging visit.

Pupils in Raasay Primary School recently took part in the Local Mod. This year, for the seventh time, pupils won the Oban Rose Bowl – awarded to the non-Gaelic Medium School with the most points. Collectively, they also won the cup for their choral performance. The boys also competed in individual poetry recitation and solo singing and all came back with gold or silver medals! Well done boys!

On Monday 27th May, pupils in Raasay Primary School, in conjunction with the Parent Council put on a wonderful WWII themed Afternoon Tea with the purpose of raising funds for Repower Ukraine and for their end of term school activities. The afternoon was very well attended and everyone enjoyed some fabulous baking accompanied by wartime 40’s music. A very big thank you to all who helped out with baking, setting up and clearing away, and running the cafe. A fantastic total of £393.29 was raised with £250 being sent to the Ukraine Charity which is aiming to provide solar rooftop panels for schools and hospitals which are without electricity due to the war. Andrii, who designs the rooftop panels said “We deeply care for our beloved Ukrainian people who are facing immense hardship. In times like these, we are all one family. Our country is in trouble, and we must stand together, supporting each other. It is our duty to help one another, for if we don’t, we won’t survive. This is our responsibility”.

We also received this from the Repower Ukraine team “The RepowerUkraine team expresses its sincerest gratitude to the students, parents and staff of Raasay Primary School for their incredible fundraising effort. It is very important for us to receive support from children and residents of the island. Maybe you don’t know, but Raasay is an incredible island where people came together to create an energy community by switching completely to renewable energy. They decided to donate their first profits from the energy cooperative in part to charity, choosing to support our foundation. But today we are thankful for another of their initiatives. On May 27th, the school community came together to host a wonderful, themed tea party. With delicious baked goods, lively 1940’s music and a spirit of generosity, they raised money to support important causes. £250 was donated to the Repower Ukraine Foundation to install solar panels on the roofs of schools and hospitals across Ukraine that have lost electricity due to the devastating war. Thank you to every student, teacher, parent and volunteer who made the effort to make this touching holiday possible. Your concern and hard work will help bring light and energy to Ukrainian communities who desperately need it. Our team is infinitely grateful to the residents of the island for supporting Ukraine, and we are proud of our friendship. Your kindness inspires us and adds strength to continue vital work for Ukraine.”

Camille from the Scottish Islands Federation Network also said “It is really moving to hear that the community on your island got together to show such solidarity with the people of Ukraine”.

Thank you to all – we hope you enjoyed the afternoon!

Earlier this term, pupils took part in the Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel which is the UK’s largest inter-school walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling challenge. This inspires pupils to make active journeys to school to improve air quality and help the environment. Last year, we were delighted to be awarded the certificate for top UK school (tiny schools category) attaining 100% of journeys during the period undertaken by walking, wheeling or cycling. This year is the 15th year of the event and the pupils made a fantastic effort to once again be top in the UK for tiny schools. Pictured are pupils with their certificates. Well done to all!

On Thursday 16th May, Raasay Primary School invited pupils who will be starting nursery in August, along with their parents, for a stay and play session in the nursery. This gave the opportunity for children to get familiar with the setting and staff as well as playing with each other. This was also an opportunity for the parents to feed into our Self Evaluation under the title ‘What next for Raasay Nursery?. As always we welcome input from parents to help inform next steps. This information has been very useful for our Nursery Improvement Plans. Everyone in our school community is looking forward to welcoming in our new pupils in August.

Raasay Primary School is very fortunate to have weekly chanter and tin whistle tuition from Angus MacPhee, our piping tutor. These sessions are undertaken online and in person over each term. All the boys have been learning new tunes and our P7 pupil took part in the Mod Chanter competition with many other competitors from across Skye. Here he is pictured before taking to the stage. Well done on being resilient and representing Raasay so well in what was a very busy competition!